A few years back I walked into a Lockheed Martin facility and the first thing I saw was a huge TV with a picture of their Facility Security Officer with the caption, KNOW YOUR FSO. I thought that was a pretty good idea, then and now. Please join me in officially welcoming and getting to know Kristine Olsen as our new BGI Facility Security Officer effective 8 November 2021. Kristine is based in our Akron, OH office and is originally from the northern Ohio area. Don’t be surprised if the new office is decked out in all kinds of Ohio State stuff or if Kristine and Chad Darr are dressed in their football jerseys the first week of January. Kristine comes to BGI after a distinguished career as an Army Intelligence Officer in support of Army Special Operations. She spent 12 honorable years serving in this capacity, and was deployed to many locations worldwide in support of our Nation. She along with her husband Parker and two kids decided to make a change to enjoy a more stable family life and has landed at BGI for her next career step. Kristine jumped right into the mix to get through the FSO training requirements, as well as taking advantage of additional training opportunities offered through the Skillbridge transition program (sponsored by the US Chamber of Commerce, Corporate Fellowship Program) as she left active duty. She has worked closely with Dave Carrell, corporate leadership and other Process Area leaders to integrate directly into this critical role. You will begin to see Kristine’s name on more and more correspondence related to Security, ITAR, Insider Threat, and CUI protection. While she is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, I don’t think you will get any correspondence from her in that language.
After distinguished careers at the FBI and BGI, Dave Carrell, our former FSO, is in the process of easing into retirement while exploring other endeavors, including teaching and travel. Dave will continue to support our BGI Security Team while Kristine leads and familiarizes herself with BGI’s people and processes. We will recognize Dave fully when he is further down the road but we would be remiss if we didn’t thank him publicly for his strong support in this transition for Kristine. Thank you Dave.
Security is one of our key pillars here at BGI and having each and every employee become familiar with Kristine and her role makes us a stronger organization. Thank you and join me in welcoming Kristine and her family to the BGI team.